[2023] New Marriott branded Charleston Resort Announced

[sparty]

Interesting Marriott announced the new Charleston Resort of 50 units. Pretty small but Marriott said the City of Charleston is limiting them. Looking forward to it opening though as a brand new resort. Been a long time.

Here's the announcement: I'm also excited to announce that earlier this month, we acquired a fully entitled parcel of land in Charleston, South Carolina. Overlooking the heart of the city, we intend to develop a new Marriott branded resort by early 2025, including a new on-site sales gallery. The city of Charleston continuously ranks as one of the top owner destinations for its thriving culinary scene, easy walkability and southern charm. Located steps from the historic Charleston City Market, this new 50-unit resort will make a great destination for our owners.

 

[VacationForever]

I wonder if they will build it like converted hotel rooms. Unless they come with full kitchens and washers and dryers, they will be no different from staying at another hotel room.

 

[jwalk03]

I wonder if they will build it like converted hotel rooms. Unless they come with full kitchens and washers and dryers, they will be no different from staying at another hotel room.

I very much doubt it. Likely a new pulse location. That seems to be their focus for sure.

 

[Norcal5]

Sounds like a wonderful location! That was one of the 5 cities they offered in a survey someone posted to TUG a while ago. I think the others were Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle and maybe one other.

 

[CPNY]

Sounds like a wonderful location! That was one of the 5 cities they offered in a survey someone posted to TUG a while ago. I think the others were Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle and maybe one other.

New Orleans or Nashville would have been amazing also.

 

[tschwa2]

I wish the pulse locations could be equipped at least as well as a studio and one bedroom residence inn.

have a 1 BR or even a studio like this lockoff with a hotel room without the kitchen. Still a Pulse. A Balcony and a resort pool would be nice but I can give them up for location. But space for a family is what makes it a vacation club property and not just a hotel that you can use points with.

 

[hcarman]

I wonder if they will build it like converted hotel rooms. Unless they come with full kitchens and washers and dryers, they will be no different from staying at another hotel room.

There are so many great restaurants in Charleston that I would guess many guests will make do just fine with a limited kitchen.

 

[daviator]

Since the site they acquired was described as "fully entitled" – that means that some other company or developer already got all of the approvals needed to build. It's highly unlikely that the property was entitled with the intent of timeshare use; probably it was entitled as a hotel. I don't know how things work in South Carolina, but generally you have to build essentially what was entitled. They can probably make some changes on the interior but probably can't change the building's footprint or change the unit count without having to go back for approval which can take a long time. So since they are targeting completion in two years, that means they plan to start construction immediately and are unlikely to make big architectural changes.

So, I expect it will be very hotel-like, at least in the room configurations. I think this is likely to be the only kind of new MVC property we see for the foreseeable future.

 

[pedro47]

Excellent location for a new Marriott Resort. Now if Marriott could fine a location on the East Coast of North Carolina. That would be Outstanding.

 

[Dean]

We've stayed at Church Street Inn and Bluegreen's Lodge Alley Inn. Great locations and decent timeshares. Personally this is far better than NO which I will likely not visit again. Nashville would be great, the Wyndham is the only option there but it is very nice, stayed there for a family trip at Xmas a few years ago all on RCI exchanges.

 

[ljmiii]

There are so many great restaurants in Charleston that I would guess many guests will make do just fine with a limited kitchen.

Absolutely. Assuming "...in the heart of the city..." means somewhere in or near the Historic District, I'd be happy with a 3/4 size fridge, a convection microwave, a dishwasher, and a reasonably sized sink.

 

[ljmiii]

Now if Marriott could fine a location on the East Coast of North Carolina. That would be Outstanding.

Indeed. There are in my mind only two locations in the US that are lacking 'traditional' MVC resorts. I'd love to see a beachfront resort (or more than one) along the middle of the Eastern Seaboard - NC, VA, MD, DE, and/or NJ. Obviously shorter peak seasons the farther you go north and very expensive land so the financials are hard to justify (particularly compared to the ROFR and resell money machine). The other is a Southern California beachfront resort - not so much the same seasonal variation...but even more expensive land.

If MVC set the point cost high enough it might make sense. By building lots of 'penthouses' and setting the point value appropriately, HGVC made plenty of money off their Grand Waikikian and Grand Islander towers in Waikiki. Or (as a MVC salesrep recently suggested for their non-beachfront Waikiki property) they could go back to selling weeks for truly high demand locations.

 

[Dean]

Indeed. There are in my mind only two locations in the US that are lacking 'traditional' MVC resorts. I'd love to see a beachfront resort (or more than one) along the middle of the Eastern Seaboard - NC, VA, MD, DE, and/or NJ. Obviously shorter peak seasons the farther you go north and very expensive land so the financials are hard to justify (particularly compared to the ROFR and resell money machine). The other is a Southern California beachfront resort - not so much the same seasonal variation...but even more expensive land.

If MVC set the point cost high enough it might make sense. By building lots of 'penthouses' and setting the point value appropriately, HGVC made plenty of money off their Grand Waikikian and Grand Islander towers in Waikiki. Or (as a MVC salesrep recently suggested for their non-beachfront Waikiki property) they could go back to selling weeks for truly high demand locations.

Seasonality is an issue but would be a much bigger issue under weeks compared to points. There are lots of places I'd like to see a good resort an we've done those lists before. We all have different preferences and needs. For me personally it's be the Gulf for North FL, FL Panhandle or MS; North FL Atlantic, esp St. Augustine, Savannah (likely Pulse), Gatlinburg, Nashville, San Antonio, and Santa Fe for a short list.

 

[jme]

Happy about that because it offers options. That said, it WILL be very expensive.

The competition there will be:

1. The Belmond Charleston Place, lower King Street, historic district, in the heart of the historic district. Easy walk to many great restaurants.

The Charleston Place | An Independent Luxury Hotel

Experience warm hospitality and an array of amenities—The Charleston Place is an independent, iconic landmark in the heart of Charleston's historic district.

charlestonplace.com

2. Hyatt House Charleston, upper King Street (upper historic district)...either a long walk, or cannot walk, to most of the best restaurants (a couple are close).

https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/south-carolina/hyatt-house-charleston-historic-district/chsxh

We have owned a timeshare called Church Street Inn, located in the heart of the historic district (lower district at City Market, our preferred location),
and will stay there at least 4 times a year. EASY walk to the best restaurants….I have a Charleston list!)
It's a nice 1BR townhouse with full kitchen and nice living room, has a large private garden courtyard with fountain, and a wonderful staff.
We adore that place. We are no more than a 10-minute walk to ALL of our favorite restaurants, dinner & breakfast, and that's about 10-12 of them.
We walk the fabulous King Street shops, only 2 blocks away. The ever-informative and fun horse & buggy tours originate 2 blocks away……so much to see and do.

Anyway, I'm sure if Marriott does anything, it'll be a PULSE resort, and probably not located as well, or as close to all we enjoy, but still, sounds great to me.

 

[hcarman]

Texas needs a Marriott Vacation Club. It is one of the faster growing states and we meet so many people from Texas at the vacation club resorts - yet there are none in the State.

 

[jmmoultn]

I think Marriott needs a beachfront resort in the Florida Keys. I know there are Hyatt vacation club properties there, but I have yet to crack the code to get one through II...

 

[Dean]

I couldn't get confirmation of a Charleston option but did hear credible rumors of a second Waikiki location and a Nashville option.

 

[jjluhman]

I think Marriott needs a beachfront resort in the Florida Keys. I know there are Hyatt vacation club properties there, but I have yet to crack the code to get one through II...

What are you trying to trade? I have traded into the Hyatt BeachHouse (3 times) and Hyatt Windward Point once.

 

[JIMinNC]

I couldn't get confirmation of a Charleston option but did hear credible rumors of a second Waikiki location and a Nashville option.

I'm not sure what you mean by "confirmation of a Charleston option", but it would seem all the confirmation we need is in the first post above from the OP. That's a direct quote from CEO John Geller during the Feb 23, 2023 VAC Q4 2022 Earnings Call. Here it is again:

John Geller
I'm also excited to announce that earlier this month, we acquired a fully entitled parcel of land in Charleston, South Carolina. Overlooking the heart of the city, we intend to develop a new Marriott branded resort by early 2025, including a new on-site sales gallery. The city of Charleston continuously ranks as one of the top owner destinations for its thriving culinary scene, easy walkability and southern charm. Located steps from the historic Charleston City Market, this new 50-unit resort will make a great destination for our owners.

There was more color given during the Q&A:

Chris Woronka, Deutsche Bank.
So first question, John, you mentioned in the prepared comments, a land of parcel in Charleston for development. I know it's a small thing and obviously, a great market. Is that -- should we read anything into that in terms of -- you're more willing or wanting to do a little bit more development going forward? Or do you think you need inventory? Or just -- is there anything we should extrapolate from that?

John Geller
No. Just that we're looking at over the future with contract sales growth. And as Tony hit on, we do have excess inventory still. That's down to about $500 million of book value. So development takes time, right? So as we talked about -- that's in 2025. We probably would have loved to do a bigger Charleston development, but there's local limitations in terms of how big and kind of that 50 unit cap there. So it's going to be a great property. I would expect you're going to hear more opportunities and things as we go forward this year.

Now like I said, some of that stuff, if it's ground-up development, it's going to take a few years to get to. And I would expect if they're bigger projects, Charleston at 50 units isn't going to be that much CapEx here over the next couple of years in terms of inventory CapEx. But we'll look like to do what we've done historically is do some capital-efficient deals, work with partners on development. So we've got a good pipeline of things we're looking at in new destinations that will bring those new sales centers. So -- but we got to be thinking about delivering inventory as we get out in '25, '26, '27 because that $500 million, while it sounds like a lot when you're burning $300 million, $400 million off your balance sheet each year, right, you'll burn through that pretty quick.

Anthony Terry
And that's for the 50 units, that's 1.5 months of sales, if that. So that's a smaller project. We will come with a little bit of distribution, which we like. We do some business in that market already through events and whatnot, but we do look to add more distributions along with newer projects, which will help us on our contract sales growth going forward as well.

 

[amycurl]

I think the partnership that developed the the HHI and MB resorts for HGVC also recently opened a Charleston resort. It will be nice to increase the options in II vs RCI. But, yes, I would love if Marriott built their Pulse locations more like the Custom House, because, otherwise, I don't see the difference between a MVC resort and a hotel room.

 

[Dean]

I'm not sure what you mean by "confirmation of a Charleston option", but it would seem all the confirmation we need is in the first post above from the OP. That's a direct quote from CEO John Geller during the Feb 23, 2023 VAC Q4 2022 Earnings Call. Here it is again:

John Geller
I'm also excited to announce that earlier this month, we acquired a fully entitled parcel of land in Charleston, South Carolina. Overlooking the heart of the city, we intend to develop a new Marriott branded resort by early 2025, including a new on-site sales gallery. The city of Charleston continuously ranks as one of the top owner destinations for its thriving culinary scene, easy walkability and southern charm. Located steps from the historic Charleston City Market, this new 50-unit resort will make a great destination for our owners.

There was more color given during the Q&A:

Chris Woronka, Deutsche Bank.
So first question, John, you mentioned in the prepared comments, a land of parcel in Charleston for development. I know it's a small thing and obviously, a great market. Is that -- should we read anything into that in terms of -- you're more willing or wanting to do a little bit more development going forward? Or do you think you need inventory? Or just -- is there anything we should extrapolate from that?

John Geller
No. Just that we're looking at over the future with contract sales growth. And as Tony hit on, we do have excess inventory still. That's down to about $500 million of book value. So development takes time, right? So as we talked about -- that's in 2025. We probably would have loved to do a bigger Charleston development, but there's local limitations in terms of how big and kind of that 50 unit cap there. So it's going to be a great property. I would expect you're going to hear more opportunities and things as we go forward this year.

Now like I said, some of that stuff, if it's ground-up development, it's going to take a few years to get to. And I would expect if they're bigger projects, Charleston at 50 units isn't going to be that much CapEx here over the next couple of years in terms of inventory CapEx. But we'll look like to do what we've done historically is do some capital-efficient deals, work with partners on development. So we've got a good pipeline of things we're looking at in new destinations that will bring those new sales centers. So -- but we got to be thinking about delivering inventory as we get out in '25, '26, '27 because that $500 million, while it sounds like a lot when you're burning $300 million, $400 million off your balance sheet each year, right, you'll burn through that pretty quick.

Anthony Terry
And that's for the 50 units, that's 1.5 months of sales, if that. So that's a smaller project. We will come with a little bit of distribution, which we like. We do some business in that market already through events and whatnot, but we do look to add more distributions along with newer projects, which will help us on our contract sales growth going forward as well.

Thanks, I asked my contact for more info and he didn't have anything but did add the other 2 options from their yearly conference.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Texas needs a Marriott Vacation Club. It is one of the faster growing states and we meet so many people from Texas at the vacation club resorts - yet there are none in the State.

Yeah, S Padre or Brownsville and N to Corpus. Brownsville averages 70's for highs in January.

 

[jmmoultn]

What are you trying to trade? I have traded into the Hyatt BeachHouse (3 times) and Hyatt Windward Point once.

I've tried to get Hyatts through II with Hilton Head summer weeks, without much luck. We had a request in for about a year pre-COVID, then gave up and booked it through Hyatt (and we had to cancel due to travel restrictions). I know they are all Fixed Weeks, which might make it harder to get certain prime weeks.

 

[jjluhman]

I've tried to get Hyatts through II with Hilton Head summer weeks, without much luck. We had a request in for about a year pre-COVID, then gave up and booked it through Hyatt (and we had to cancel due to travel restrictions). I know they are all Fixed Weeks, which might make it harder to get certain prime weeks.

The Hyatts don’t usually deposit in II before 6 months. I have trade for February, April, and 4th of July week using a Marriott Ocean Pointe platinum week.

 

[altiste1]

Yeah, S Padre or Brownsville and N to Corpus. Brownsville averages 70's for highs in January.

South Padre Island would be outstanding. My wife and I have loved both times we visited, and a beachfront resort would be a huge boon.

I will say the island has a deliberately underdeveloped feel, as if the locals don’t want to see anything more built. I’d be interested to know if the political climate among the zoning and building boards and officials there is a primary reason we haven’t already seen a new resort by Marriott or others on the island. Margaritaville is opening a new resort there in May, but it’s a remodel of an existing resort.